Airplane



D. DOBBINS.

AIRPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 25' I918.

1,336,946. Patented p 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I I N I-"EN TOR. 000644: flue/m:

A TTORNEY.

D. DOBBINS.

AIRPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED 0612511918.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEE TSSHEET 2.

I N V EN TOR. 0006245 floss/#5.

ATTORNEY.

D. DOBBlNS.

AIRPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 25 1918' 1,336,946. Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- 40 as TIE' 5 20 36 IN VEN TOR. Down: 0048/:

A TTORNE Y.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. DOUGLAS DOBBINS, OF SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 JOHN DAY DE PREZ, OF SHELIBYVILLE, INDIANA.

AIRPLANE.

To all whom z't may concern Be it known that I, DoUoLAs Domains, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Shelbyville, county of Shelby, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Airplane; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

This invention relates to air-planes, and the object of'the inventionis to assist airplanes in rising and particularly in land-.

ing, by enabling them to. rise more quickly and more nearly vertically and to descend more slowly andmore nearlyvertically in landing.

It is known in aeronautics that until an air-plane has attained a high velocity, if the engine stops, the plane will fall, for there is in the air-plane of today no means for reventing or checking its fall. Also 0 en when the plane makes a quick'turn and assumes a position more or less on edge and the engine stops, there is difi'i'culty in righting theplane and, if that cannot be done, it

' will fall. This invention in such emergency may enable the plane to be righted, but, if

not, it will act as a brake? and retard the fall'so as to avoid injury.

llt is alsowell known that a great dan er in the use of air-planes is due to the difiiculty in landing. When the air-plane is under good control, it sometimes strikes the surface of the ground with considerable force, so that the occupants must jump for their lives, and the ar and shock to the machine is very severe upon it. If the ground is rough this danger is all the greater. The chief advantage expected of this invention is to relieve the air-plane from any shock, and

enable it to descend-very slowly and' 'ali ht' on the ground without any jar to it or 'scomfort to the occupants of the air-plane, and so that the occupants will not have any fear. about the landing, or be compelled to jump for their lives as the air-plane, strikes the ground. A minor advantage of the inventlonis that the air-plane can be started and landed in a much smaller field than without said invention, as it can both rise and descend at a sharper angle.

' The chief feature of the invention consists :elevation o Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 13, 1920,

Application filed. October 25, 1918. Serial No; 259,667.

ing the usual propelling means, of a plurality of emergency or auxiliary propellers sired.

The full nature of this invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims. Y

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevat1on of the air-plane equipped with said improvement. Fig. 2 is a side elevation therecf. Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 4 1s an elevation of the means for controlling the operation of the auxiliary propellers, parts being broken awayf ig. 5 is an one of the auxiliary propellers and means for maintaining and driving same, on a larger scale, parts being broken away. Fig. 6 1s a plan view thereof. Fig. 7 is a vertical section through the u per part of what is shown in Fig.5 on line 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section through one of the rotary engines for driving the auxiliary propeller, .on line 8-8 of is not limited to any particular form of air-;

plane. In the form shown there is a body 10 with a pilot cock pit 11 and an observers cock pit 12. There is also a vertical propeller 13 for driving the air-plane and a pair of landing wheels 14 supported by a pair of frames 15 extending1 down from the body of the air-plane, ass own in Figs. 1 and 2. There is also on each side a lower plane 16 and an up or plane 17 The said airplane is provided with all the other requirements. of construction. not heretofore specified which are necessary to fully construct and operate the same, but such other details of construction are not given here as they constitute no necessary part of the present invention.

The, plurality of horizontally disposed nection with the'air-plane in any position and manner desired, 'which will enable them to operate'substantially at a right angle to will distribute their action or influence to I board-in front of the observer, for him to.

' There is also a valve 30 in each of thethe main propeller 13, so that when the aux iliary propellers operate they will tendfto lift the plane. In the drawings herein, four of these auxiliary propellers are shown located "above the upper plane 17, but the invention is not limited to the number or posi- "tion of said propellers.

Each auxiliary propeller is rotatably mounted on a stationary tube'21 which is shown herein as and may be an extension of a vertically .disposed strut connecting the two planes, but this arrangement is not necessary, although it simplifies and makes more compact the construction, and it also distributes the auxiliary propellers as indicated in Fig. 3, two of the propellers being near the outer ends and front edge of the upper plane and the other two auxlliary propellers being near the inner ends and the propellers to be spaced apart so that they will not interfere with each other and the airplane when they are all operating;

The meansfor driving the auxiliary propellers in the form herein shown, 1s'co m-' pressed air, as compressed air apparatus is light and not overload the air-plane. For that purpose a compressed air tank 25 is provided and it may be secured at any deslred position where it is least in the way,

or as herein shown strapped to the under side of the body 10 between the wheel supporting frames 15. This tank need notbe very large, as all that is required is sufli-- ci'ent compressed air to be used for landng,-or for ascending and landing. That would be a very few minutes use in a flight as 1 t would be used only while rising to a posltion above the trees, buildings and other ad acent structures .and during the latter portion of the descent. A pipe 26 leads from the compressed air tank to the instru-' ment plate27 iII'ifI'Ollt of the pilot or to a operate if that be preferable. From the pipe 26, branch pipes 28 lead to each supportmg tube 21 of each auxiliary propeller. A valve 29 is located in the pipe 26 for starting and-stopplng the propellers simulneously and for controlling their speed.

branch pipes so that the auxiliary propellers may be used separately or in pairs if des1-red. These branch pipes are mounted -o n the lnside of the upper plane so as not to interfere with the operation of any part of the alr-plane. The pipes 21 extending above the upper plane are braced by he braces 31.

below andanother abovethe hub 23 of the auxiliary propeller 20. The casing' 35 of each rotary engine is secured toa stationary tube 21 by any suitable means,-such as .a set screw 36. Within the casing of each lrotary engine 'there'is a rotary member 37,

niounted soxas to rotate on the tube 21, which is round where the auxiliary propeller is mounted, although below the propeller and rotary engine said tube. need not be round. The rotary member. 37 of each of the rotary engines is secured by bolts 38 to the hub 33 of the propeller so as to transmit power directly thereto. This makes avery strong and durable construction.

The compressed air reaches the rotary engine through by-passes 40 leading from tube 21, and by placing the by-pass of one engine in-staggered relation with the other coiiperating engine 'a constant drive'is provided. rear edge of the upper plane. Tlns enables w This forms a very compact and positive to rise at a very sharp angle. This is very convenient, particularly in cramped fields or situations. After the air-plane has risen high enough to satisfy the pilot, he .can

4 stop the auxiliary propellers and depend on the main propeller and planes to 'efiecta further ascent or can shut off the auxiliary -propeller on. each side at a time to cause a gradual changein the elevation of the airplane. While descendingat any elevation the pilot canstart all the auxiliary propellers at full speed so that they will tend to I lift the air-plane and. serve as a brake to prevent its rapid descent and thus cause it to go downslowlyand alight easily. j With' --;this aid indescent it is believed thatthere will result a very great saving in human life and of injury The invention claimed is: I 1. The combination with an air-plane, of

done to the air-planes while landing.

a propeller therefor having a hub, a tube on which said propeller and hub are rotatably mounted, a fluid-actuated motor secured on said tube adjacent the hub of the propeller and having a rotary 'part secured thereto, and means for supplying fluid under pressure to said motor through said tube. 2

' 2. The combination with an air-plane, of

a propeller therefor havinga hub, a Sta-- tionary' tube on which the propeller and hub are mounted, a fluid-actuated motor se- -cured'on said tube at each side of said hub and having a rotating part secured to the hub, and means for supplying fluidunder pressure to said motors through said tube. 3. The combination with an air-plane, of

5 a propeller therefor having a hub, a stationary tube on which the propeller and hub are mounted, a fluid-actuated motor secured on said tube at each side of said hub and having a rotating part secured to the hub,

means for supplying fluid under pressure to 10 said tube, and a by-pass leading from said tube to each of said motors for driving them In Witness whereof, I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

DOUGLAS DOBBINS. 

